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An Overview of the Denver Broncos Defense
The Broncos played unexpectedly solid defense in 2024. They upped their game to championship-caliber defense in 2025. Last year's run defense was stingy, finishing second in both yards allowed and yards allowed per carry. The pass defense surrendered the 11th-most yards but faced the 6th-most attempts. Denver was second in both yards per attempt and completion percentage. They got after the passer better than anyone. The team's 68 sacks were 11 more than anyone else. The only thing they did not excel at was taking the ball away. With 10 interceptions and just 4 fumble recoveries, the Broncos were 26th in that department. All of that added up to the unit giving up the fourth fewest points.
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When a defense plays that well, it is usually difficult to keep the band together. Denver managed to do just that, with tackle John Franklin-Myers being the only significant defection. It's a position the team was deep at to begin with, but they replaced him with second-round rookie Tyler Onyedim anyway. It's the same cast of characters, and they didn't even lose defensive coordinator Vance Joseph to a head coaching job. There is no reason to expect anything but another great season from this group.
Denver Broncos Defensive Linemen
Great defense starts with the battle in the trenches. Denver won that fight last year. The Broncos were one of five teams to hold opponents under four yards per carry, and the pass rush gave quarterbacks PTSD. Any team would be happy with 46.5 sacks. Denver got that from just their front line. With such numbers, we would expect to see considerable IDP value from the group. Instead, what we got was one solid second starter and a bunch of marginal contributors.
The problem is a good one for the team. They simply have too many good players, and they use them all. Fifteen guys contributed to the sack total, including nine linemen. Edge Nik Bonitto led the way with 14 sacks, but gave us a modest 32 tackles and 14 assists. That was good enough for a top 20. Meanwhile, Bookend Jonathon Cooper had about his normal sack output at 8, but his tackle production slumped to 23-27, landing him at ED36.
Bonitto's numbers were right on par with his 2024 season. Cooper, on the other hand, is capable of much more. He went 44-28-8 with 4 turnovers in 2023, and followed that with 58 stops and 10 sacks in 2024. The difference is in the snap count. Despite seeing about 100 fewer snaps, Bonitto managed to avoid a drop in production, at least for now. That is subject to change. Cooper logged 820 snaps in 2023 and 836 in 2024. Last year, he dropped to 682.
Unfortunately, this will probably be the plan from now on. Bonitto and Cooper will get 60-65% of the opportunities, while Dondrea Tillman and Jonah Elliss will see 35-40%. Between them, the backups accounted for 69 tackles, 6.5 sacks, and 3 turnovers. Both are third-year players who could be successful as starters if the opportunity presents itself. With Cooper signed through 2028 and Bonitto through 2029, it will be a long wait barring injuries.
There is a similar situation at the tackle position, where Zach Allen's snaps dropped from 954 in 2024 to 797 last season. He still managed seven sacks, but his tackle totals plummeted from 32 solos and 29 assists to 14-24. It was his lowest solo tackle total since his rookie year in 2019, and his lowest combined stops since 2020. All of that considered, I believe last year's slump to be more of an outlier for Allen than the start of a trend.
Going back to his time in Arizona, Allen had been a strong option for us in four consecutive seasons, including a rank of seventh among tackles in 2024. With 25 sacks and 20 batted passes over the last four seasons, he can be counted on for a solid contribution outside of the tackle columns. Upwards of 800 snaps is plenty for the tackle numbers to rebound. I'm targeting Allen as a good DT2 with upside.
While Allen saw enough snaps to be an IDP option, four other players worked in the rotation, seeing between 310 and 533 plays. John Franklin-Myers kicked in 7.5 sacks but managed just 25 combined stops. Eyioma Uwazurike, D.J. Jones, and Malcolm Roach all had at least 3 sacks, but none of them came close to useful tackle numbers. The Broncos have a strong and deep roster, but unless the herd is thinned out a bit, Allen is the only fantasy target on the inside.
- Edge Jonathon Cooper – Capable of being a quality second starter, but only if he gets the snaps
- Edge Nik Bonitto – Quality second starter who could slip a bit in 26
- Edge Jonah Elliss – Injury sleeper
- Edge Dondrea Tillman – Highly productive on a per-snap basis
- Edge Que Robinson – Waiting for a turn in the rotation
- DT Zach Allen – Could be a draft day bargain after a down season
- DT Malcolm Roach – No fantasy impact
- NT D.J. Jones – No impact
- DT Sai'vion Jones – No impact
- DT Tyler Onyedim – Could have some dynasty value
- NT Eyioma Uwazurike – Marginal impact